A Crow That Watches A Watchman
by SunsetRandom
Summary: Rorschach's dead Dan's retired and in need of a friend, a companion. Sure there's Laurie but she's just not...so he found a buddy someone who understands him. A crow that watches over him.


Weeks that's how long it's been since Dan's visit to Karnack and the day Rorschach…died. Maybe it was a tiring time and maybe Dan is just grieving for his partner. Was that all Rorschach was to him? Nothing more than a partner no he was a friend that's what.

Dan sighed and removed his glasses. He had been here for far too long. Laurie had come back to his place a couple times asking if he could cope with this but each time it was the same. 'I'm fine Laurie really I just need time.'

He wasn't, he never was fine with Rorschach being dead and there was a problem with that. 'You quite' Yeah he quite but never on Rorschach, Nite Owl would never turn his back, not on him. Too trusting, far too trusting but did he really try to get to know Rorschach did he really?

So maybe he could have done more just maybe but there were too many maybes and what ifs on that matter up too late thinking about it all. Tiring beyond belief so for once in the weeks that he mourned Rorschach the subject was dropped. Dan decided there and then that he would carry on without his partner's appearances.

…

Five days and he's already losing his mind. Every time he goes outside there is an eerie feeling that something is following him. All Daniel has to do is look around and there is no one there.

Even at home there are always eyes on him. He can't shake the feeling and Dan has a feeling he never will. Cause maybe there actually is something watching him.

…

Laurie came over again and for once he's actually getting along just fine. He's not lying when he says that he's over his partner's death. She stays and keeps him company for the night before leaving again. That's when Daniel is left to his thoughts once again, that's when it's the most dangerous.

He could deal with the loss of companionship for eight years at most but after he put on the mask again. It all changed he remembered what it was like to be in constant contact with people that he actually liked being around. It was fun and now he doesn't have the luxury anymore. It's shallow and its hollow it's empty. Silence is something that he's been living with for some time but now it's all foreign to him.

Daniel's thoughts are disturbed as soon as he realizes he said the last bit out loud. "Silence is foreign". "I'll get used to it again."

He knows though, he knows all too well that he won't for some time.

…

First day after his epiphany and his starting to notice some strange things, for one there seems to be a crow following him everywhere. The only reason he noticed was when it didn't move when he went into the shop. He came back out it looked at him, he walked away and it followed for some time. It was only when he turned onto a different street did it leave him be.

Strange animal is all he could think at first but now he's not so sure. Once he gets inside his house it's warm and dark. It's unlike many times in the distant past when he found Rorschach in his kitchen, many times it would seem that Daniel walked up to the porch only to find the door burst open. He can't dwell on those thoughts now though, not anymore, not when he knows it will never happen again. At least not with the person he's thinking of.

Dan laughs at the thought of someone breaking into his house as a burglary attempt. It was humorous actually, to waltz into the house and be totally unconcerned about anything. Because all that he would think was 'Oh hey Rorschach stopped by' but then as he walked in the cogs would start turning 'but Rorschach is dead Dan' he isn't coming back.

The thoughts are quickly silence by a caw from the window. He turns his head and faces the animal that made the noise. There's that bloody crow, it pecks the window and stares at him for a moment before taking off. "I'm definitely losing it."

…

Crows, they're everywhere now. They wreak havoc on the skies and fly through the night screaming that lovely tune. There's the problem though he's only seen one crow in the past few days and it's still following him. Crazy, stupid that's all that runs through Dan's head all the time when he thinks about that damn crow that keeps making appearances. It isn't following me it can't be I'm just seeing things, that's what it is nothing more nothing less than that just stupid.

"I'm seeing different crows each time and just looking when there is one." That's what he's convinced that it is but he knows deep down that isn't right.

Dan knows that this is the same crow over and over. He sighs sitting on the couch barely paying attention to the television. Of course he reasons the crow isn't here tonight. Daniel glances out of the window watching the rain pour down onto the ground like a waterfall. Yeah no crow out there, no sane bird would go out there and he should know.

Then again he may have jinxed his luck. There's a shaking noise down stairs which startles him then something falls. Daniel shoots up from his place on the sofa and looks to the basement door. There's someone down there or something.

Suddenly whatever is left of Nite Owl returns to him one fiery blast as he makes his way down the steps. The lights are off and there doesn't seem to be a living thing in site not even any rats. Dan grasps the wall and searches for the light switch and once it's on he's shocked.

There in the work shop is no other than a black ball of feathers tangled in wires and tape. How the hell he got tangled in the tape Dan will never know but that's not the only thing he notices. It's the same crow that has been following him for days now maybe longer. The animal shivers and shakes its feathers attempting to free itself from the shackles.

Daniel reaches for the bird and isn't surprised when it pecks at him. No blood is drawn but it still stings. The bird flutters and flaps it even attempts to use its beak to undo the wires but to no avail. After endless shuffling Dan reaches again this time there is no peck or warning but what sounds like a huff. It takes only a moment to untangle the pour animal from its binds. The crow rests on Dan's arm soaking wet from the rain slightly shivering which seems oddly human.

There is a moment when the retired vigilante takes in the black bird's appearance and stance. Most birds would have taken off the moment they were free but this one didn't. It doesn't grip or claw his arm like many of the hawks that he has handled do but simply stand there. Something else crosses his mind too "How did u get in here?"

The crow cocks its head to the side; Dan thinks this over for a moment. Never has a bird gotten in here before they probably didn't even know how. Why now, how did a crow that has supposedly been following him get in here anyway? As if knowing the crow flies up to the top of Archie and perches there staring back at Dan again with those beady eyes.

He reasons that the crow was out in the cold and just happened to see the entrance. Thinking that is was a dry place it rushed in out of the rain instead of attempting to get to its nest. There was no other explanation other than that theory.

…

The crow is a regular occupant in his basement now. He doesn't mind the company in fact Daniel enjoys it. It's nice to have someone to talk to even though they can't say anything but 'caw' back. Once or twice he's attempted to hold the crow again like that night but each time it shies away. If he doesn't attempt physical contact the animal is fine. It listens to his stories and memories even his thoughts. Or at least that's what he thinks, it is odd though.

Dan sighs and stares at the bird again like many times it looks back. Standing up he walks up the stairs towards his home above but this time it's different. He hears the fluttering of graceful wings as the crow follows him ever so closely. As Daniel opens the door and walks up the black bird still follows. At first he is tempted to shoo it back down into the work shop but he doesn't. It is warm up here and cold down there, maybe its compassion or maybe it's just his mood tonight but he lets it pass.

The crow lights upon a lamp and watches Daniel close the basement door behind him. It waits and follows him up stairs, why he doesn't know. It is only when he walks into the bedroom that the crow stays put where it is on the banister outside his door. Like a guard bird he muses.

The thought is actually funny that there is a bird outside his room watching over him like an avenging angel or something…a bit closer to home.

…

It's around seven maybe eight in the morning when he is awoken by the sound of cawing and flapping. So maybe letting the bird up into his house was a bad idea Daniel snarls into his pillow. Getting dressed and putting his glasses on in a mere minute or two he pokes his head out of the door. Except the crow isn't there in fact the noise is coming from downstairs, and then there is a second noise and its human.

There's that instant when he becomes Nite Owl again and everything he does is the vigilante within. Rushing down stairs he races to the door or at least as fast as his legs would let him run. Then there is another thing that is terrifying, whatever was happening stopped completely as he reaches where the door is.

There is no burglar well…not anymore that is. He can still see where the door was knocked open; the crow rests on the ground. Blood is splattered on the walls and on the crow as well. The animal seems to be lightly wounded and is now content on resting on the floor; Dan picks the black bird up. No ordinary crow, it has loyalty and devotion as it would seem all towards the second Nite Owl. 'Sure it pecks usually if I try to touch it but it never is too far from me.'

The thought is familiar and the personality of this animal reminds Dan of Rorschach for some reason. Instantly the animal perks and up and attempts to take flight into the air only to lazily rest upon a table. Daniel looks to the door knowing that he will have to fix it up for the first time in quite a while. Ever since that night when Rorschach came in and told him about the death of the Comedian, the last case that he would ever preform.

Daniel sighs slipping into the slight depression about his partner once again. He was over it for a time but now everything comes back to him in snarling, angry bursts. But who could blame him he lost his partner in fact he watched as his partner asked for death. Then the blue god obliged. A red smear in the snow, Laurie didn't care and to be honest it bugged him a little. He knew she didn't like Rorschach but that was his partner. The question opens again, was that all that Rorschach really was to him…a partner?

Of course something happens that surprises him yet again. "Dan?"

Laurie walks in through the damaged door looking around suspiciously. "I'm fine Laurie, uh why are you here?"

"To be honest I really don't know, I just kind of came."

The crow that is still perched on the table makes a cawing noise and flutters over to Dan's shoulder. It's unnerving that the crow makes physical contact for the first time since that stormy night. As it stands perched on his shoulder it reminds Dan of some sort of horror movie especially with the blood.

The usual reaction happens, Laurie asks why his door is knocked open Dan answers and she is sent on her way. No harm no fowl but there is the bird. Apparently it didn't like Laurie of course neither did Rorschach, it was becoming increasingly normal to compare his deceased partner with the crow.

…

This bird was his company and everlasting companion as it would seem. The days went on and soon turned to weeks as then to months. His companion is the crow; he doesn't consider the animal a pet but rather a friend. The animal, he hopes, thinks that same about him.

But as time goes on he notices that this crow seems to be more than an animal. It seems rather human to be honest. The more Daniel thinks about it the more it seems ridiculous but then again the more he thinks the more likely that it's true.

It's after a year passes that finally he realizes the truth.

Daniel is rummaging through random items looking through them all. It's when he grabs the hat that everything unfolds. Nite Owl stares at it for moments because this is…was Rorschach's hat. He wore it on patrol, on their last mission and times before the last mission. It can't be given to anyone else. Fate interfered that day though and time stood still as the hat was taken from his hand.

The crow's claws grip the fabric and fly it over to a beam in the attic. The black animal perches there and seems mesmerized by it. "Hey give that back." His voice is raised and cracking.

Daniel wants to say a name but he knows that he never gave the bird one. For some reason every name he tried was struck down in his mind as if the animal needed no name.

The crow cocks its black head and still stares at the hat. Familiar, is a word that slipped between Dan's lips. The animal then looks at him its eyes an abyss of darkness that pulls the man in. Soon he finds himself inches away from the crow without any notion as to why. Then he sees it. He sees what is so familiar about this crow, its eyes or not at all like a crow's eyes but like a human's eyes.

Daniel begins to shake a little and it isn't that the eyes are of a humans. These eyes, he knows them he knows them all too well. They are Rorschach's eyes, somehow he knows this somehow he's always known just too naïve to notice. He has never seen Rorschach's eyes before but somehow he just knows that these are his.

For a moment every instinct in his body tells him to run and hide because those can't be his partner's eyes. They can't be his brother's eyes, he stand there still watching them looking into the abyss of darkness. These eyes they have seen so much more, so much more than he will ever understand. It as if the crow…no, Rorschach speaks to him 'Hello Daniel' he can hear the voice as clear as day.

As Daniel reached out his hand the crow lit upon it and he understood. He understood like Rorschach once had.

…

It takes only twenty five years before someone catches up with him. That someone is death; he has had a full life. He spent it with two people one goes by the name Rorschach to other's name is Laurie. He married her never had any kids which made Sally distraught but Laurie was happy that made him happy. Rorschach got past his grudge against the female or at least he thinks. Rorschach had cohabitated with her for twenty five years not without a squall or caw of complaint though. The woman he admired had passed two years prior, he being very much blind and elderly was sent to a nursing home. It was too quiet there for his taste sure he had his brother but even he could not speak English.

Dan had made an agreement that if the crow kept quiet then he could keep Rorschach. One bad move and this could all come crashing down. The people here were friendly and old some loved his friend others despised him. Some actually looked at him and said "You know this crow actually reminds me of a maniac back in the day. Ruthless little terrier his name was…oh uh…Rorschach that's it. He was a good man for a while until the killing started." Some would reminisce about the heroes and vigilantes none of them actually knowing that one was living in the same building as them.

It didn't matter after a while Daniel never came out of his room he was becoming too weak to walk. Days passed and as they passed his time on this earth grew shorter. He could feel it deep in his bones that his death was nearing. Rorschach did not seem too awfully worried but who could tell when your blind and crows can't speak. Dan listened to the soft hum of the radiator and then to something he never heard before. It sounded like a human voice actually not speaking but singing a faded tune of old.

He couldn't identify it but it was soothing Dan could feel it lulling him to the endless possibilities of sleep. Maybe it wasn't sleep, there was a thud and everything went numb for a moment. Daniel's ailing joints settled suddenly and his body felt like it did back when he was young. He didn't realize anything unsettling until it already happened.

Daniel was standing that he was sure of, he hadn't moved from his room it was just the fact that he was standing. There was a flutter as a ball of black feathers burst from the other side of the bed. It scrambled and struggled before landing on the bed where Dan…his body lay. Dead, death had taken him now but Rorschach was now alone in a crow's body. The bird fluttered once again resting its talons on the fabric. Rorschach flopped over onto his side and let out a strangled cry.

At first the noise was startling and downright scary to hear. He was to follow Daniel but it still hurt to watch someone die all over again. The body soon stopped moving and breathing Dan knew that he was dead.

It felt like hours but he knew it was only seconds as a human body materialized from the crow. Daniel smiled for what felt like so very, very long "Hello Daniel" the gruff voice was unmistakable. His instincts were ignored as he rushed up and hugged Rorschach like a kid on Christmas morning. For once Rorschach did not object to human contact in fact be embraced it. "It's good to see you again Rorschach, for a while I thought you were going to remain a bird for a while."

A dry chuckle escaped the vigilante's lips "Was sent to keep an eye on you Daniel, intended to."

That night he saw every one of his since passed friends and family. Just maybe Rorschach is more than a partner just maybe he's a brother.


End file.
